Remembering Marcyliena Morgan

We mourn the passing of Marcyliena H. Morgan, the founding director of the Hip Hop Archive & Research Institute. After a long illness, she is at peace. 

Prior to her passing, Hopi Hoekstra, the Dean of the Faculty of Arts & Sciences, enthusiastically approved the renaming of the Hip Hop Archive as the Marcyliena H. Morgan Hip Hop Archive & Research Institute, ensuring that her historical legacy will live on at Harvard for all time. 

The Ernest E. Monrad Professor Emerita of the Social Sciences and Professor of African and African American Studies at Harvard, Professor Morgan created the world’s first, largest, and best archive to record the ongoing cultural phenomenon of Hip Hop music, art, and culture. The Hutchins Center is committed to carrying on the study of this most vital and global of art forms in her name.

In so many ways Marcy Morgan was the heart and soul of the Hutchins Center and AAAS communities here at Harvard, and she will be deeply missed. Our thoughts at this time are with her beloved husband, Professor Lawrence Bobo, her family, and all who loved her.